


A Matter of Statistics

by foobar137



Series: World War II with Soulmate Marks [2]
Category: Historical Fiction, World War II AU - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Gen, Japan, Pre-World War II, Soul Mate Marks, Soulmate names marked on arm at birth, soul marks, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2019-01-05 05:58:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12184266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foobar137/pseuds/foobar137
Summary: In a world where people are born with their soulmate's name on their arm...what happens when a number of people start being born with names from a long ways away?When the man managing the Japanese census in the mid-1930s discovers that there are a large number of baby girls being born with English/American names on their arms, he recognizes what that means. But doesn't the fact that the children have already been born mean he can't fight fate?





	A Matter of Statistics

**Author's Note:**

> This is set in the same timeline/universe as The Last Place You Look. After writing that, I got to wondering whether having the soulmate marks of your future enemy on the arms of your daughters would be enough to stop a war...but, clearly, it couldn't, because if you didn't lose the war, your daughters couldn't end up meeting the occupation troops...
> 
> The characters discuss dates in Japanese style, based on the reigns of emperors. I have noted down the corresponding AD year as appropriate.
> 
> If I have misinterpreted elements of Japanese culture, that mistake is entirely mine, and I apologize.

Saito Hisaharu sat patiently in the outer office of the Home Minister, trying not to stare at the elegant room. From this room, much of the mighty Greater Japanese Empire was run. The Home Minister was in charge of those who kept the peace in the land, ran the railroads, delivered the mail, surveyed the land, and counted the population. That last was Saito’s job as head of the census; his boss reported to someone who reported to the Home Minister.

“The Home Minister will see you now.” The young man who served as the minister’s secretary held the door open, gesturing inside.

Saito stood, dipping his head to the secretary, and then walked into the Home Minister’s office. After his boss had chosen to ignore the statistics, Saito had burned every favor he had for this meeting, and then some. He had to warn somebody who could, perhaps, save the Empire.

He bowed deeply before the minister’s desk, dropping his head down in deep respect.

“Take a seat, Saito-san,” the minister said. “And tell me what is so important that you needed to talk to me.”

Saito sat, looking at the minister’s desk, which was cleared of papers. “We’re going to lose an upcoming war, Minister. Probably against the Americans, although it could be the British, or both.”

A long silence stretched out before the minister said, “I’m sorry? Please explain how the head of the census can tell me this?”

“The koseki [family registers] track the soulmate marks of each child, and the census takes its data from there. We’ve known since well before the Manchurian Incident that there would be war, and many Japanese men would be lost - the number of men without soulmate marks went up, as it always does before a war.”

“Yes, of course.”

“We have had a small number of people born with gaijin names on their arms since just before the Treaty of Kanagawa. Many left Nippon to find their soulmates. However, starting about fifteen years ago - around Taisho 10 [1922] - that number started to increase, slowly at first. It peaked around Taisho 15 [1927] but is still much higher than it was.”

“So we win.”

“No. It only increased among baby girls. Almost a full percent of baby girls born in Taisho 15 had gaijin names on their arms. The percentage of children - boys and girls - born without marks increased as well, and remains high, up to five percent in some years.”

Saito stared at the desk as the silence stretched again.

“So, you’d estimate that we lose the war when?”

“Approximately Showa 14 to 24. [1942-1952] Historically, the trend peaks fifteen to twenty-five years before the end of the war. Those are the young women who have no husbands among their own people, and find their soulmates among the conquerors.”

“I think you’re worrying over nothing, Saito-san. Perhaps this is just an occupation force in Hawaii once we force the Americans to back down.”

“I…I suspect that may be overly optimistic, minister. That would generally mean more gaijin names on male babies, because there are more men in foreign territory. Historically, worldwide, a rise in foreign names on the names of baby girls without a corresponding rise for baby boys is almost always a sign of losing a war.”

“Was there not an increase in Chinese names of soulmates in the years before we liberated Manchukuo?”

“There was, but…”

“Thank you for your time, Saito-san. I will pass this information on to the Minister of War. I will be seeing him tonight. You may see yourself out.”

_But there was a larger increase for boys leading up to Manchukuo!_ Saito wanted to shout. But that was not his place. He bowed his head and stood without ever looking up at the minister.

_I did what I could_ , he thought as he left the office. _I hope it’s enough._

* * *

“The man seemed concerned, certainly, but I think he’s overstating the case,” Home Minister Gotō said, and then took a sip from his glass.

Vice Admiral Yamamoto shook his own glass, stirring the ice inside, and thought. He’d been opposed to the takeover of Manchuria, and was opposed to the planned war on China. War had a tendency to spread, and with the recent naval treaty between the British and the Germans, there was far too large a chance the two might unite against Japanese expansionism.

Yamamoto wasn’t quite sure why he’d been invited to this dinner party. Perhaps one of his enemies was hoping he’d make a social blunder large enough to force him to retire.

“Did he say whom this war would be against?” a young general asked with a smile. Yamamoto knew that sort of smile all too well - that was the smile of a man who was far too certain of himself for the good of those underneath him. The general’s youth indicated that he had probably gotten to his rank because of his family ties, at least in part.

“He seemed to think the Americans, or possibly the British,” Gotō said. “But I’d think gaijin names would be too similar to tell apart.”

Yamamoto’s hand froze, and the ice spun to a stop. “Did he say how many female births there had been with English soulmate names?” he asked quietly.

Goto shrugged. “A percent or so. Hardly anything, really.”

Yamamoto opened his mouth, then closed it again. Gotō was an up-and-coming political power, and it would be unwise to anger him. Off to one side, the Minister of War nodded his head as if agreeing with Gotō.

“Indeed,” Yamamoto said with an incline of his head and a smile he didn’t feel. “Hardly anything.”

_A percent? That’s…terrifying. That’s at least fifty thousand young women. Since most occupying troops have soulmates at home, that means somewhere between a quarter million and half a million soldiers._

_Half a million American soldiers in Japan._

_And the fools will still insist that we can win._

“Perhaps it just means that we send all these young women to America as a peace offering once it is clear they cannot defeat us,” the young general smirked.

“An excellent idea,” Gotō said with a smile, and the rest of the crowd around him nodded agreement. “I shall have my people keep track of them for that purpose. As they’ll be marrying gaijin, it’s not like we care that much what happens to them and their misbegotten half-breed children.”

Yamamoto raised his glass in farewell and slipped away before he got sick to his stomach.

**Author's Note:**

> (Names are given in Japanese style, with family name first.)
> 
> Gotō Fumio was Home Minister of Japan from July 1934 to March 1936, and acting Prime Minister for a brief time in February-March 1936 while the actual Prime Minister was in hiding after the 26 February Incident. He held various positions under Prime Minister Tojo during World War II, and while he was arrested for war crimes after the war, he was released without a trial. I have no indication of what his personality was like; his characterization as given was entirely created for this story. If he was not, in fact, a racist jerk, then I apologize to his memory.
> 
> Yamamoto Isoroku was a vice admiral in 1935, when this was set, and was notoriously opposed to the war party in Japan. He was made commander-in-chief of the combined Japanese fleet in 1939 and led Japanese naval forces until American forces shot down his plane in 1943, killing him. I probably got his characterization wrong as well.
> 
> Saito Hisaharu is an original character created for this story.


End file.
